Getting Ready . . .

I've spent much of the evening getting ready to go on our mini vacation, doing laundry and such. Someone I know once said they felt like a ferret on speed--yep, that's exactly how I've been feeling the last several days. It seems like I've barely had a chance to catch my breath since sometime last week. I'm sadly behind in my blog reading for one thing. Hopefully once we come home on Saturday night, I'll have a couple days to relax and get caught up on life at home.

Sharon over at Red Geranium Cottage got back from her own mini vacation and wrote me to ask whether I'd gotten the packet of patterns I won from her. Yes, indeed I did get the package, but that's all I knew at the time. Why? Because all of my mail for the last several days has piled up with no time to sort or open any of it. Finally, FINALLY tonight I did just that. Look at the great patterns Sharon sent me!

Well, look if you can--I'm really and truly a poor photographer, without a doubt. But if you can't quite make out what a nice haul I received, take my word for it! One of the patterns is actually a punch needle kit. Have you tried that yet? I haven't but I keep eyeing the patterns because they're so darn cute! Now I have a really good reason to try it. I need to get one of the needles, but maybe I can pick one up on my travels.

You may wonder what I've been busy doing that has kept me so insanely occupied. Actually, so do I! Here it is, Wednesday night, and I can't even really remember what I've been doing since sometime before last weekend. Okay, yes, I do remember going to Apple Hill. And in case I forget, I blogged about it, so I can always refresh my memory. And, of course, we made applesauce as you know--blogged about that too. The rest of last weekend is a bit of a blur although I know I worked hard because my back's still hurting along with several other joints and muscles I didn't even know I had, and for a few days, I was walking around like a 85-year-old crippled woman.

I know I spent time finishing the leaf quilt. Here it is in all its glory:

And I spent time decorating the house--I think that's what really killed my back, muscles, and joints. In fact, now that I think about it, I made a stop at Michael's on the way home from work last Friday night, and then I decorated Friday night and Sunday night, I think. While I was in Michael's, I saw an arrangement I really liked, so I bought what I needed to come close to their version. Here's mine:

Before I go, I'll leave you with a bunch of photos of the fruits of my decorating endeavors--and it appears those fruits are mostly pumpkins. Oh, yeah, and first of all, let me show you the HUGE pumpkin my husband picked out when we were up at Apple Hill. I was watching the scale when they weighed it and I know it was over 23 pounds--because I saw "23" and thought for a minute it was $23. No, I have no idea how much it actually cost because the receipt had all sorts of amounts identified as "produce," so I don't know which was the monster pumpkin. My husband loves to carve pumpkins for Halloween--when he does this one, I'll make sure to share the "after" photo.

Behave yourselves while I'm gone! I'll try to catch up with everyone on Sunday.